1 Dealing with Debt
1. Introduction
This leaflet explains your legal rights when you have debts, and the protection you have from people who are demanding money from you.
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There is information on:
2. Rent or mortgage payment problems
4. Hire Purchase (HP) problems
5. Gas, electricity and phone bills
8. What creditors can do to get their money
12. Other legal protection if you are in debt
13. When you can be sent to prison for your debts
14. Terms used when dealing with debt
You can get free impartial debt advice online by using CCCS Debt Remedy. Alternatively, call the CCCS national freephone number: 0800 138 1111.
Most of us owe money to people or organisations most of the time: bills are a fact of life. But, occasionally, we may find ourselves swamped by debts, and can`t see a way of paying them all. Don't ignore bills get help to deal with them. The `Further help`section gives details of sources of help.
If you are behind with payments to someone you owe money to (a creditor), they have legal power to try to get their money. Exactly what they can do depends on the type of debt, and some types are more serious than others. In the worst case, you could lose your home or even go to prison. So if you have several debts, you need to work out which ones you must deal with first and try to arrange to repay them.
Here, we outline common types of debt and what the law says that you, and the creditor, must each do when the creditor wants to get back the money you owe.
This leaflet is published by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). It was written in association with Birmingham Settlement.
The leaflets are regularly updated but the law may have changed since they were printed so the information in them may be incorrect or out of date.
Leaflet Version: December 2007
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